Purple Hibiscus

In Purple Hibiscus, she recounts the story of a young Nigerian girl searching for freedom. Although her father is greatly respected within their community, 15-year-old Kambili knows a frighteningly strict and abusive side to this man. In many ways, she and her family lead a privileged life, but Kambili and her brother, Jaja, are often punished for failing to meet their father’s expectations. After visiting her aunt and cousins, Kambili dreams of being part of a loving family.

The Thing Around Your Neck

Winner of a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and an Orange Prize for Fiction, Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie continues the literary tradition of Chinua Achebe, one of her greatest influences, in this brilliant collection of stories. Focusing on life’s many clashes—tradition with modernity, African cultures with American—Adichie delivers a series of haunting, character-driven tales.

Half of a Yellow Sun: A Novel

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Adichie’s brilliant historical novel follows the fortunes of five characters living through the tumultuous 1960s—a time when the Biafran-Nigerian War raged in southern Africa.

Ghana Must Go

Kwaku Sai is dead. A renowned surgeon and failed husband, he succumbs suddenly at dawn outside the home he shares in Ghana with his second wife. The news of Kwaku's death sends a ripple around the world, bringing together the family he abandoned years before. Ghana Must Go is their story. Electric, exhilarating, beautifully crafted, Ghana Must Go follows the Sais' journey, moving with great elegance through time and place to share the truths hidden and lies told; the crimes committed in the name of love.

Americanah

As teenagers, Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love in a Nigeria under military dictatorship. The self-assured Ifemelu departs for America, where Obinze hopes to join her, but post-9/11 America will not let him in, and he plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Fifteen years later, after so long apart and so many changes, will they find the courage to meet again, face to face?

Between the World and Me

"This is your country, this is your world, this is your body, and you must find some way to live within the all of it." In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation's history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of "race", a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men.

There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra

The defining experience of Chinua Achebe's life was the Nigerian civil war, also known as the Biafran War, of 1967-1970. The conflict was infamous for its savage impact on the Biafran people, Chinua Achebe's people, many of whom were starved to death after the Nigerian government blockaded their borders. Immediately after, Achebe took refuge in an academic post in the United States, and for more than 40 years he has maintained a considered silence on the events of those terrible years. Now, decades in the making, comes a towering reckoning with one of modern Africa's most fateful events.

Americanah

As teenagers, Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love in a Nigeria under military dictatorship. The self-assured Ifemelu departs for America, where Obinze hopes to join her, but post-9/11 America will not let him in, and he plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Fifteen years later, after so long apart and so many changes, will they find the courage to meet again, face to face?

Things Fall Apart

Okonkwo is born into poverty, with a wastrel for a father. Driven by ambition, he works tirelessly to gain the prosperity of many fields and wives and prestige in his village. But he is harsh as well as diligent. As he sees the traditions of his people eroded by white missionaries and government officials, he lashes out in anger.

God Help the Child: A Novel

Spare and unsparing, God Help the Child - the first novel by Toni Morrison to be set in our current moment - weaves a tale about the way the sufferings of childhood can shape and misshape the life of the adult.

Arrow of God

Ezeulu is worshipped by the six villages of Umuaro. But he is beginning to find his authority increasingly under threat. Yet he still feels he must be untouchable - surely he is an arrow in the bow of his God? Armed with this belief, he is prepared to lead his people, even if it means destruction and annihilation. Yet the people will not be so easily dominated.

No Longer at Ease

Obi Okonkwo is an idealistic young man who returns to Nigeria for a job in the civil service following an education in the UK. Managing to resist the bribes that are offered to him, he falls in love with an unsuitable girl and sinks into emotional and financial turmoil. The lure of easy money becomes harder to refuse, and Obi becomes caught in a trap he cannot escape.

My Brilliant Friend: The Neapolitan Novels, Book 1

A modern masterpiece from one of Italy's most acclaimed authors, My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense, and generous-hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila, who represent the story of a nation and the nature of friendship.

Mislaid: A Novel

Stillwater College in Virginia, 1966. Freshman Peggy, an ingénue with literary pretensions, falls under the spell of Lee, a blue-blooded poet and professor, and they begin an ill-advised affair that results in an unplanned pregnancy and marriage. The couple are mismatched from the start - she's a lesbian, he's gay - but it takes a decade of emotional erosion before Peggy runs off with their three-year-old daughter, leaving their nine-year-old son behind.

Every Day Is for the Thief

Every Day Is for the Thief is an account of a Nigerian in the diaspora who returns home after many years abroad. The book gains its strength as much from its subject matter (contemporary Lagosian life as experienced by a visiting former resident) as from its prose style (reminiscent of John Berger and J.M. Coetzee). Teju Cole's nuanced book explores themes as diverse as the minor joys of daily Lagosian existence and the crudities of contemporary forms of corruption. His work is both a critique and a message of hope to a Nigeria rapidly in transformation.

The Madonna of Excelsior

In 1971, 19 citizens of Excelsior, a farming community in South Africa’s rural Free States, were charged with breaking apartheid’s Immorality Act, which forbade sexual relations between blacks and whites on the pretext of avoiding miscegenation. The women were jailed as they awaited trial and their white counterparts were released on bail. In the end, the state withdrew the charges, but the accused women’s lives, already complicated, became harder than ever.

Disgruntled

Kenya Curtis is only eight years old, but she knows that she's different, even if she can't put her finger on how or why. It's not because she's black - most of the other students in the fourth-grade class at her West Philadelphia elementary school are, too. Maybe it's because she calls her father - a housepainter-slash-philosopher - "Baba" or because her parents' friends gather to pour out libations "from the Creator, for the Martyrs" and discuss "the community".

New American Stories presents diverse stories of contemporary American life and dreams lost and found, by four of the best young contemporary writers - Jhumpa Lahiri, Sherman Alexie, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Aleksandar Hemon - as performed by terrific stage and screen actors. All four writers have a unique perspective on the American experience, which is reflected in their work.

We Need New Names: A Novel

Darling is only 10 years old, and yet she must navigate a fragile and violent world. In Zimbabwe, Darling and her friends steal guavas, try to get the baby out of young Chipo's belly, and grasp at memories of Before. Before their homes were destroyed by paramilitary policemen, before the school closed, before the fathers left for dangerous jobs abroad. But Darling has a chance to escape: She has an aunt in America. She travels to this new land in search of America's famous abundance only to find that her options as an immigrant are perilously few.

Publisher's Summary

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a 2003 O Henry Prize winner, and was shortlisted for the 2002 Caine Prize for African Writing and the 2004 Orange Prize. In Purple Hibiscus, she recounts the story of a young Nigerian girl searching for freedom. Although her father is greatly respected within their community, 15-year-old Kambili knows a frighteningly strict and abusive side to this man. In many ways, she and her family lead a privileged life, but Kambili and her brother, Jaja, are often punished for failing to meet their father’s expectations. After visiting her aunt and cousins, Kambili dreams of being part of a loving family. But a military coup brings new tension to Nigeria and her home, and Kambili wonders if her dreams will ever be fulfilled. Adichie’s striking and poetic language reveals a land and a family full of strife, but fighting to survive. A rich narration by South African native Lisette Lecat perfectly complements this inspiring tale.

What the Critics Say

"One of the best novels to come out of Africa in years." (The Baltimore Sun)

“Prose as lush as the Nigerian landscape that it powerfully evokes. . . . Adichie's understanding of a young girl's heart is so acute that her story ultimately rises above its setting and makes her little part of Nigeria seem as close and vivid as Eudora Welty's Mississippi.” (The Boston Globe)

"A sensitive and touching story of a child exposed too early to religious intolerance and the uglier side of the Nigerian state." (J. M. Coetzee)

Where does Purple Hibiscus rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I liked Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun much better, but this book, once you get into it, is really good.

What did you like best about this story?

I love the fact that Igboland plays a prominent role in Adichie's stories. I'm from Tanzania, but Adichie makes me feel like I now know Nsukka and Enugu, though I've never been. It's refreshing to hear names and places that are historically accurate, and not generic. The story does an excellent job of telling a story, the foundations of which could be found in any culture, and making it a distinctly African story. Great job!

Did Lisette Lecat do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

There were definitely times when her South African accent came through or when her pronunciation of certain Igbo words were a bit off, but it won't be noticeable to most listeners.

The book is very impressive, I could not stop listening until I finished. Still out of words... The only thing I did not like was sound quality. The narrator was good, great dramatic reading, but in the recording we can often hear her swallow (which can be annoying), as well as people coughing on the background.

Where does Purple Hibiscus rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I found it hard to get going in the first chapters, but the story eventually grabbed me and at some point brought me to tears. Unlike a father lacking creativity of influencing his children to do better, it was refreshing to see a woman headed home thriving in difficult conditions, whilst she filled her home with love, she made her children raise the bar not out of fear but because the knew they have it within them to rise above, she natured their varying talents and promoted self expression though with limited resources. A story of parallels of religion, hypocrisy and love, poverty and abundance, a brief history lesson on Nigeria's political culture.

What other book might you compare Purple Hibiscus to and why?

I think because i have also read There was a country by Chinua Achebe, which to a certain extent complements the historical references to Nsuka, i found myself relating to Purple Hibiscus especially around the government, school leaders and activists, in Nsuka, as well as the Igbo people.

What does Lisette Lecat bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

There are great books i haven't finished because of poor performance, she may have made rare mistakes in places but she performed very well such that i could identify characters just based on her voice delivery.

While I adore Adichie's prose and am fascinated by the glimpse into Nigerian culture, I found the character of the father so polarized in his public vs. private behavior and his horrific treatment of his family hard to believe and hard to take. As to the recording, the narrator's breathing was often so clearly heard as to be distracting. I loved her performance and attribute this to poor production technique.

This story transported me to west Africa. It is an incredible story about complicated family relationships, politics and religion. I love to the audio version particularly for the pronunciation of the Igbo words and phrases that are sprinkled throughout the book.

The most memorable moment for me in this narrative is when Kambili finally finds her voice. Many unfortunate things happened to both the protagonist and her brother, Jaja, but the story is told in such a matter of fact way. These characters were not seeking sympathy although they deserved much.These children are fighting to gain the respect of their generous but tyrannical father who is incredibly abusive towards Kambili and Jaja. This narrative was so incredibly tragic but so beautifully written...Adiche has quickly become one of my favorite writers...

I loved this book. I can relate to this story in lots of ways as a fellow African. Chimamanda is unbelievably talented.My favorite character is Aunti Efiyoma (I may have spelled her name wrong). she represents all the hard working mothers, educators and leaders of Africa. The narrator did a very good job too.

Anything Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie writes is like gold from Heaven to me but I found Lisette Lecat's performance wanting. It's not that she doesn't narrate well but she tends to take long pauses in breaks between narration that become distracting because you don't know whether she's pausing to start a new chapter or simply continuing the paragraph. Plus you can't hear her breathing and mouth sounds so clearly it's a bit distracting. This is less about her performance and more so the sound quality engineering in the studio. Overall this didn't deter me from enjoying this spellbinding and moving story.

A story about violence told with delicate strokes- a daughter caught in between her devotion for her father, a pious man 'who thinks he is God', and her desire to enjoy life. The pace of the narration is a little slow compared to other audio books but it suits this novel well. A very pleasant listen.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Nicholas

Abergavenny, United Kingdom

12/23/12

Overall

"Loved this book"

This is an excellent read. Some complex characters, and a compelling coming-of-age drama played out against an all-too-real background in Nigerian history. Very well narrated.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Alex

MalakoffFrance

10/31/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"Not for the fainthearted or sensitive"

The story is written in the first person from the point of view of an emotionally damaged adolescent black Nigerian girl in an extremely Catholic and rich family. As all of these things are totally alien to me, I wasn't expecting to enjoy this very much (I have it because it was obligatory reading for my son at school). However, it was all rather gripping, albeit as far removed from my own life experience as Harry Potter. The details of life in Nigeria rang true, but I suppose what struck me most was the contrast between the gentle writing style and the ambient violence. Although there are no direct descriptions of graphic violence, some of the events are genuinely disquieting. This is not a book I will forget quickly.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

V. Mpala

England

8/20/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"Great story"

If you could sum up Purple Hibiscus in three words, what would they be?

Intriguing emotional justifiedListen to this book on audible. I like the way the book was written, the story line was great detailing what exactly happened in a country foreign to me therfore I was able to picture it well. I felt angry a lot of the times and ashamed to say I loved the ending! Cant wait to read Adichie's other books.

Any additional comments?

The one thing I did not like was an English accent reading a Nigerian book. It took me a long while to get my head around it. She did well in trying to pronounce the words but I would have like to hear the author herself or similar read the book.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

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